Baby Potato-Green Bean Salad with Bacon and Feta

If you have time for one more potato salad this summer, please make it this one!  This is one of the best potato salad recipe I've ever had.  Last picnic, Labor Day cookout or family-and-friends gathering coming up? Bring this!   

Rather than a warm starch side dish for our gourmet group dinner recently, I decided to go with something cool, as our weather has been very warm and humid this summer.  It was a perfect accompaniment for the grilled meat, which is the last recipe from our dinner that I'll be sharing from our dinner, next time.

The dressing is a delightful vinaigrette made with Dijon mustard, fresh thyme leaves (hello, garden), and honey.  When all the wonderful ingredients are tossed together with the vinaigrette you will have one of the freshest, best tasting potato salads you can imagine.  Better yet, it can be made either a day ahead or in the morning.  I like to take it out of the refrigerator and allow it to get to room temperature before serving.  But be careful, you'll be tempted to sneak a bite every time you walk past it :)

If you don't care for bacon or feta cheese, leave them out.  But, if you do, they just make every mouthful a delightful combination of flavors!

I used a combination of baby Yukon gold and baby red potatoes.  I would suggest using either one of those over russets as they hold their shape better after boiling.  The green beans are cooked until just tender and then blanched in a bowl of ice water to keep them from getting mushy and to keep their bright green color.  I used haricot vert (thin, French green beans) that I found at Costco but any fresh green beans will work.  Even better if you can get them freshly picked at a Farmers' Market.



You may have heard or read about all the rain we've been getting in Wisconsin recently.  9-11 inches of rain fell in portions of Wisconsin yesterday that caused mudslides (unusual here), water rescues and evacuations ongoing.  Areas hardest hit are north of Milwaukee, Madison and areas near LaCrosse.  Here in Southeastern Wisconsin we have Flash Flood warnings today for nearby rivers and creeks.

Luckily, our home is built on high ground so we are fortunate.  My poor Limelight hydrangea is so heavy from all the rain that the blooms have fallen over but, compared to what other's are going through, a minor disaster indeed. Isn't it hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of August?

Baby Potato-Green Bean Salad with Bacon and Feta

Printable Recipe

Serves 8

For the Vinaigrette:

1/3 cup white wine or apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon honey
1 heaping tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 heaping tablespoon minced shallot
2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2/3 cup vegetable oil

For the Salad:

3 pounds baby gold or baby red potatoes, or a mixture of both, washed
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 (generous) pound fresh green beans
5 green onions, white and light green part, thinly sliced
1/2 pound bacon, cooked crispy, crumbled
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (2 ounces)

To make the vinaigrette:  In a blender, combine the vinegar, honey, minced shallot, thyme leaves, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper. Blend until combined. With the blending running and pour cap open, slowly add in the oil until the vinaigrette is thickened. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

In a large saucepan of boiling water, add the salt and cook the potatoes, covered, for 8-10 minutes.  Drain and run cold water over them. Spread in a single layer on a tea towel to cool completely.  When cool, either halve or quarter the potatoes and place in a large bowl.

Wash and trim the green beans and cut in half crosswise. Fill a large bowl with ice water and have ready by the stove. Fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add the beans and return to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, for 3-4 minutes or until just crisp-tender. Immediately remove from boiling water with a slotted spoon and put them into the ice water. After a couple of minutes drain the beans, pat dry and and to bowl with potatoes.

Add sliced green onions to the bowl and drizzle with some of the vinaigrette and gently toss.  Add more vinaigrette, if needed, to thoroughly coat the salad. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Cover and chill for 2 to 24 hours. Chill remaining dressing to serve alongside the potato salad. You may remove the salad from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature, if desired.

Just before serving, toss salad with the bacon and feta cheese and sprinkle with freshly ground pepper. Serve with remaining dressing at table.

Light and Lemony Potato Salad ~ Ode to a Tuber - Part Fifteen

 

Quoting from an EHow contributor: "Potato salad is neither new or American. It was first written about in 1597 and recipes first appeared in print in the 19th century. It was popular in Europe before it became a staple of the American diet. Potatoes themselves are native to America and were first introduced to Europe by returning explorers. The immigrants brought the potato salad recipes to America. Mayonnaise was first made in France, and the French and German immigrants are credited with creating potato salad."

My recipe was taken from the August, 2010 issue of Southern Living Magazine.  Once again, a Midwesterner living vicariously through romantic locations with better climates than her own!  It still is REALLY cold here in the winter, however, NOT in the summer...

The recipe that caught my eye in this issue (other than that glorious pie on the cover..but we're not going there until I lose the 3 pounds that have mysteriously appeared in the past two weeks) was the lightened version of potato salad. Perfect for a light, summery, Sunday dinner. 

Made with olive oil, lemon juice and dry mustard vinaigrette, with green onions and fresh, chopped parsley from my garden, it sounded wonderful.   I pulled out my very best olive oil for this recipe. 

The potatoes are tossed with the dressing while still warm. I found this advice from a potato salad article in the Atlantic Monthly (which is not normally your go-to site for potato salad):

"Dress potatoes while they're still warm, I've always been told, if you want them to absorb maximal flavor. The rule is sacred to many Germans, who view potato salad practically as a national symbol... Heat will also dissolve salt and sugar and begin to emulsify the oil in the dressing, providing a smoother consistency."

There is another great reason to make this potato salad. Using red potatoes and leaving the skins on, adds antioxidants and fiber to your diet. They also contain healthy flavonoids which have been known to protect against certain types of cancers and cardiovascular disease.

Here is this delightful and light recipe from Southern Living:

Light, Lemony Potato Salad
Adapted from the August, 2010 issue of Southern Living Magazine
Printable Recipe

Serves 6

2 pounds small red potatoes, each cut into 8 wedges
1/4 cup good-quality olive oil
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 green onions, very thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Fill a large pot with cold water, add about 1 teaspoon of salt and the potato wedges. Bring to a boil and cook until just barely tender, about 10 minutes (testing frequently to be sure you don't overcook them). Drain potatoes, rinse very lightly with cool water, and allow to cool for five minutes. The potatoes will still be warm.

While the potatoes are cooling, whisk together the olive oil and next 4 ingredients until creamy and emulsified in a bowl large enough to fit the potatoes. Add the warm potatoes, green onions and parsley. Toss to coat.

Serve at room temperature or may be chilled.

Cilantro Potato Salad ~

A sure sign of the outdoor grilling season is potato salad! I was recently given this new and very tasty potato salad recipe by a friend who said she got it from a clerk in the deli of a well-known department store. It may be one of those 'clones' of well-known recipe, but all I know it that it tastes wonderful!

I found this interesting bit of potato salad history:

Potatoes (a new world food) were introduced to Europe by Spanish explorers in the 16th century. By the end of the century many countries had adopted this new vegetable and integrated it into their cuisines. Preparation methods and recipes were developed according to local culinary traditions. About potato history.

Arnold Shircliffe, executive chef of Chicago's legendary Edgewater Beach Hotel, traced the origin of the potato salad to the 16th century. These are his notes:

"Early potato salad: John Gerrard in 1597 writes about potatoes and their virtues and said that "they are sometimes boiled and sopped in wine, by others boiled with prunes, and likewise others dress them (after roasting them in the ashes) in oil, vinegar and salt, every man according to his own taste. However they be dressed, they comfort, nourish and strengthen the body." This is one of the first potato salads mentioned in any book."  ---Edgewater Beach Hotel Salad Book, Arnold Shircliffe [Hotel Monthly Press:Evanston IL] 1928 (p. 231)

Potato salad-type recipes were introduced to America by European settlers, who again adapted traditional foods to local ingredients. This accounts for regional potato salad variations in the United States. Potato salad, as we know it today, became popular in the second half of the 19th century. Cold potato salads evolved from British and French recipes. Warm potato salads followed the German preference for hot vinegar and bacon dressings served over vegetables.

If you like cilantro and a potato salad with a little 'kick', you will enjoy this!

Cilantro Potato Salad

Printable Recipe

Will serve at least 10

4 lbs small red potatoes, quartered and boiled
½ cup chopped cilantro
2 tsp minced garlic
8 oz chopped onion (red or green)
1 cup celery, finely chopped

2 cups mayo (I use less)
1-1/3 T Essence of Emeril spice*
1/3 T kosher salt
2 tsp ground black pepper

Prepare the first five ingredients and add to a large bowl.  Mix together the spices and add to the mayonnaise.  Add the mayo mixture to the potato mixture in the bowl and toss together thoroughly. 
Refrigerate until chilled.  This salad also tastes great right after it's made!

*You can buy Essence of Emeril in the store but if you'd like to make your own, the recipe can be found here.